Roman Senate

The Roman Senate was one of Rome's greatest accomplishments. It survived many of the tests that the Roman Republic endured including: The Fall of the Kingdom and Fall of the Republic. When the Senate was first conceived it was a very weak assembly in terms of political power. Seeing that it began during the Kingdom it took time before the Senate Reached the climax of its power, which was during the Republic. The Senate began as a group of 100 men who advised the Monarchy. The Senate to the Kingdom had three key responsibilities:" It functioned as the ultimate repository for the executive power, it served as the council to the king, and it functioned as a legislative body in concert with the Roman People"(Wikipedia>Roman_Senate). The Senate's most important duty during the time of Monarchy was to elect new kings.  When Rome became a Republic, the Senate saw a large jump in power. The Senate now presided over all military activity, over the treasury, had the power to override and had power to appoint a dictator. The United States Senate was modeled after the Roman senate, along with several other large assemblies around the world. When the Empire began power was split between the Senate and The Emperor, but the emperor always had the power of Veto. Thus, the Roman senate lost much of its power and fell with Rome.